MIAMI (BP) -- A hotel dishwasher awarded $21.5 million in her court battle to honor the Sabbath is a faithful member of Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church in Miami, pastor Keny Felix told Baptist Press today (Jan. 18).

Marie Jean-Pierre, fired from the Conrad Hotel in 2016 after she refused to work on Sundays, has attended the Haitian church nearly 20 years, Felix said. Various news reports have erroneously identified Jean-Pierre, 60, as Catholic.

The Southern Baptist pastor describes Jean-Pierre as a "devout believer" who "embraces her faith in all aspects of her daily life." Read More

AMSTERDAM (BP) -- In the Netherlands, signatories of The Nashville Statement on biblical sexuality have been threatened with criminal prosecution, admonished by employers and derided by protests.

The episode has been cited by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. as "an ominous warning" of religious liberty restrictions to come in the U.S.

"There are many in the United States who would say, 'Well, that's the Netherlands. It can't have anything to do with Christians in the United States,'" Mohler said Jan. 9 in his podcast The Briefing. "But of course it can. Read More

DENVER (BP) -- Christian cake artist Jack Phillips can proceed with his latest lawsuit alleging Colorado harassed him based on his religious beliefs, but he may no longer seek damages from nine of the 10 defendants targeted.

Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop, has legal standing to challenge Colorado's discrimination law, the U.S. District Court for Colorado ruled Jan. 4 regarding a motion to dismiss the 2018 case. But most defendants successfully blocked Phillips' pursuit of compensatory, punitive and nominal damages against them as government officials and individual citizens.

Only Colorado Atty. Gen. Cynthia H. Coffman remains an individual defendant in the case, having lost her appeal to block Phillips from pursuing equitable relief against her in her official governmental capacity. Read More

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has urged the Arizona Supreme Court to protect the freedom of two artists to operate their business in keeping with their Christian beliefs.

The ERLC, joined by eight other parties, filed a friend-of-the-court brief Dec. 20 requesting the state's justices reverse a lower court's support for a Phoenix ordinance requiring Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski to use their painting and calligraphy business for same-sex weddings. The owners of Brush & Nib Studio in Phoenix contend the law forces them to communicate a message in violation of their faith.

Oral arguments before the Arizona high court are scheduled for Jan. 22. The case is one of several in the courts that involve the clash between the legal status of same-sex marriage and the rights of business owners who have declined to offer their services for gay weddings. Read More

WASHINGTON (BP) -- The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Thursday (Dec. 20) to reverse a year-old law that calls for churches to file tax returns for the first time in American history, but it appears unlikely the effort will go any further in this Congress.

The House voted 220-183 in a nearly party-line vote for a bill that included repeal of a 2017 tax cut's provision -– Section 512(a)(7) -- that required houses of worship and nonprofit organizations to pay a 21 percent tax on such employee benefits as parking and transportation. Only Republicans voted in favor of the proposal, and all but three of those opposing the legislation were Democrats. Read More

WASHINGTON (BP) -- Southern Baptist leaders in Texas have joined the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in calling for a repeal of the parking and transportation tax on non-profit organizations, including houses of worship found in the Tax Cuts and Job Act of 2017.

Nathan Lino, pastor of Northeast Houston Baptist Church in Houston, Texas and Robert B. Sloan, president of Houston Baptist University, published an op-ed in today's (Dec. 19) Houston Chronicle calling the provision fundamentally troubling for the future of religious freedom.

"There are important reasons why non-profits and houses of worship are not taxed in the United States" write Lino and Sloan. "The bright line that separates the domain of church from the domain of state must be guarded. One of the most fundamental powers the state has is the authority to tax. Houses of worship ought not be taxed because houses of worship ought not be regulated by the government." Read More

Of the 41 state and regional conventions that maintain cooperative relationships with the Southern Baptist Convention, at least a dozen have forged partnerships with ADF through its Church Alliance program. Additional state conventions are considering such partnerships, which help churches and state ministries protect themselves from infringement of their religious liberty.

ADF partnerships were discussed at state annual meetings from New Mexico to Pennsylvania/South Jersey. Read More

HAYDEN, Idaho (BP) -- A Christian family will resurrect their elaborate neighborhood Christmas display after winning a legal battle against an Idaho homeowners group.

Jeremy R. Morris is preparing an even larger production than the 200,000 lights, living nativity, biblical character actors, carolers, live animals and Santa Claus that he last displayed at Christmas 2016 at his family's home in Hayden, Idaho, he said Nov. 25 on Facebook.

"This Thanksgiving weekend, I am grateful to live in a country that protects ... Read More

BERKELEY, Calif. (BP) -- A Christian student leader is facing backlash and censure after abstaining from a pro-transgender vote and citing a biblical standard of two genders in her defense.

A University of California at Berkeley LGBT group is petitioning for Sen. Isabella Chow's resignation from student government; her political party, Student Action, has dropped ties to her; the university newspaper has refused to run Chow's editorial in her defense; and hundreds have protested against her, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Nov. 9. Read More

Formed in 1946 by the Southern Baptist Convention, and supported with Cooperative Program funds, Baptist Press (BP) is a daily (M-F) international news wire service. Operating from a central bureau in Nashville, Tenn., BP works with four partnering bureaus (Richmond, Va.; Atlanta, Ga.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Washington, D.C.), as well as with a large network of contributing writers, photographers and editorial providers, to produce BP News.